Williamson schools survey shows parents want their children back in school

Following an uptick in COVID-19 cases, Williamson County Schools Superintendent Jason Golden asked citizens to wear a mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19, so that students can return to school Aug. 7.

On July 1, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases spiked by 77 in 24 hours, the highest number compared to weeks past.

"With school set to begin Aug. 7, I'd like to encourage everyone to follow Gov. Lee's urging to please wear a face mask when you are out in public and expect to be close to others," Golden said in a district video on Wednesday.

"Help us stop the spread, so we can start school this fall, on campus."

Golden has said the district plans to reopen all campuses in the 2020-21 school year and school officials are working to complete a three-scenario plan.

The district introduced its framework for reopening last month, and it will be finalized by July. 

WCS also devised its own metric to determine how school will operate — on-campus learning, remote learning or a hybrid — based on the number of active cases divided by the county's total population of 238,412 people.

There were 597 active cases of COVID-19 in Williamson County as of July 2, or a spread rate of 0.25%, which is considered "low," according to school officials.

Framework for reopening

• Zero cases – Normal school
• Low: Spread less than 0.5% of COVID in the community, all students in school. (The county is currently in the low category.)
• Medium: Spread (0.5%- 1%) of COVID in the community, remote learning only select students and activities in school.
• High: Spread more than 1% of COVID in the community, remote learning only select students in school

More:Williamson school district defines metric for determining whether school's in or out

Survey shows parents want kids in school

Williamson County Schools polled parents in June about how they feel about in-person and remote learning. 

Results show that the majority of parents, over 64%, want to send their children back to school for in-person learning, while about 22% are undecided but leaning towards it. 

If WCS extended online programming, or remote school, 30.2% of parents said they'd enroll their children, while 28.1% said they would not.

Meanwhile, 18.6% of undecided parents said they were leaning toward enrolling their child in online programming, while 23.2% said they were not leaning toward it.

Further results showed that just 3% of parents would definitely not allow their children to return to school, while nearly 10% were undecided but leaning towards not allowing their child to return. 

More than 22,700 parents and guardians participated in the questionnaire.

WCS parent survey questions and results

“Given the above framework and conditions, do you intend to send your child/children to school when it is determined that in-person instruction may resume?” 

Responses are as follows:

• 64.5% – Yes, I’m certain my student will attend in-person instruction.
• 3.1% – No, I’m certain my student will NOT attend in-person instruction.
• 22.3% – Currently, I am undecided but am leaning toward my student attending in-person instruction.
• 9.9% – Currently, I am undecided but am leaning toward my students not attending in-person instruction.

“If the WCS online programming was extended, would you consider this online option for your child?” 

Responses are as follows:

• 30.2% – Yes, I would enroll my child in online programming if WCS made it available.
• 28.1% – No, I would NOT enroll my child in online programming if WCS made it available.
• 18.6% – Currently, I am undecided about enrolling my child in online programming but am leaning toward it.
• 23.2% – Currently, I am undecided about enrolling my child in online programming but am NOT leaning toward it.

Kerri Bartlett covers issues affecting children, families, education and government in Williamson County. She can be contacted at kbartlett@gannett.com, 615-308-8324 or @keb1414 on Twitter.